Asthma = Allergies

I've been undergoing allergy testing lately and it's a real eye-opener.  I break out into a rash after long bike rides and my eyes get itchy on occasion, but that was OK. 

It's when my lungs tried to shut down when doing sprints on the bike that I figured I needed to get checked out.  After some Googling about "exercise induced asthma" I found out something interesting - Asthma is often just allergies, showing up in the lungs. Now I'm no doctor and there's also asthma being a result of the shock of cold air, so don't go diagnosing yourself on what I write here.  Go talk to your own doctor.

I went in for tests and I'm essentially a walking allergy bomb.  I'm severely allergic to lots of stuff, mostly grass and trees.  I finally got an opportunity to ask the doctor the real question: "But is this what's causing my asthma attacks on the bike?"

The answer is yes.  Just like your skin breaks out in a rash, your lungs react as well.  Asthma is an allergic reaction to what's in the air.

So, I'm on some meds to help with the asthma and now on shots to try to kill off the allergies for good.  We'll see how things progress over the next few years and I'll run some self-tests to see if I'm cured.  Good times!  It's always nice to know what is going on in your own body.